In a typical GMAW process, a welding circuit is established which includes a consumable electrode, a workpiece and a power source. The electrode is generally a solid wire and not only conducts the electric current that sustains the arc, but also melts and supplies filler material into the joint. A shielding gas such as argon or carbon dioxide (CO2) or blends of argon and helium with CO2 and/or oxygen may be supplied during the welding process to support the arc and prevent the molten metal reacting with oxygen and nitrogen in ambient air.
A GMAW process can be made to operate reliably over a wide range of deposition rates when used with an argon or argon-helium based shielding gas. At low deposition (or wire feed) rates, current densities in the wire electrode are low, and the process operates in short-circuit transfer mode. In this mode, the molten droplet formed at the end of the electrode regularly touches the weld pool, and metal transfer is achieved through a combination of surface tension and electromagnetic forces. This mode can be made to operate very stably with correct selection of key process parameters.
As the wire feed rate is increased, the current density must also increase so that the melting rate matches the feed rate. For mean currents of approximately 170 A to 200 A for 0.9 mm diameter wire, the process operates in a globular transfer mode. This mode is characterised by large droplets being detached by a combination of gravity and electromagnetic forces at irregular intervals. The irregular metal transfer results in poor bead appearance and low operator appeal. In these current ranges, the GMAW process is preferably operated in pulsed spray transfer, an open-arc process where the metal transfer is regular and can be precisely controlled by the current wave form. A droplet of consistent size is propelled across the arc at regular intervals with minimal spatter to produce a smooth weld bead of intermediate size.
Above approximately 200 A for 0.9 mm wire, the process transits to spray transfer mode. In this mode, fine droplets having a diameter less than that of the electrode are propelled from the electrode towards the weld pool at a high speed across the open arc. As current is increased, the droplet becomes finer and the electrode end becomes more tapered. The constant metal transfer produces a smooth weld bead. The high current produces high heat input and relatively wide bead. Large fusion areas and deep penetration can also be achieved if the travel speed is high enough to avoid “puddling”, but without producing undercut. Due to the large, highly liquid weld pool, the positional capability of this mode is mostly limited to down hand. At very high currents (above 400 A), and where the electrode stick out length is sufficiently long, rotating arc transfer can be produced. Under these conditions, it is thought that the resistive preheating of the electrode is sufficiently high to soften it to a point where it is rotated by the non axial arc forces. If very high deposition rates are required, then a larger electrode is used in spray mode at lower wire feed rates.
Due to the availability of a number of distinct operating modes as mentioned above, the argon-based GMAW process offers the ability to operate over a very wide range of deposition rates for a given electrode size. As such it has been widely used in the welding industry.
The major disadvantage of argon is its comparatively high cost of production, compared to CO2. As CO2 is a by-product of processing such as brewing, it is relatively inexpensive since low temperature distillation equipment is not required. However there are a number of limitations which need to be overcome to using CO2-shielded GMAW for high volume production welding.
The most significant difference between GMAW processes using CO2, and argon based shielding gas is that the CO2 process does not exhibit a spray transfer mode. For low currents (less than 170 A for 0.9 mm wire) the CO2 process operates in dip transfer mode. The overall behaviour is similar to that for argon, but spatter levels tend to be higher and the bead finish is not smooth.
While it is possible to deposit a weld bead using globular transfer by increasing the current, the resulting weld bead has a poor appearance, arc stability is also poor, and spatter is very high.